


Double Trouble

by Chelidona (Hobbity), islandkate



Series: Knitwits [2]
Category: Being Human (UK), The Almighty Johnsons, The Mortal Instruments (Movies), Young Hercules
Genre: All rolled in one, Angst, Crack, Crossover, Fluff, M/M, always happy endings with us, we shot canon with a cannon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-12-26 11:42:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18281861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hobbity/pseuds/Chelidona, https://archiveofourown.org/users/islandkate/pseuds/islandkate
Summary: Prompt Fill for the GatheringFIKI SpringFRE 2019, prompt 60: Britchell / Ioluke crossoverAnders is offered the job of promoting Middle Earth tours, so to learn more about his new client he takes a tour with Mitchell. They encounter Luke and Iolaus, who are celebrating their 6th year anniversary with a trip to New Zealand.Mitchell and Iolaus hit it off, and their already frail relationships come apart.





	1. And so it starts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lakritzwolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lakritzwolf/gifts), [Khim_Azaghal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khim_Azaghal/gifts).



> This is a sequel to Islandkate's [knitwits](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13775886) but you don't need to have read that to understand the story (though I highly recommend it, I love the story)

10:15 in the morning, a.k.a, too early on a holiday. Yet this is the time that the Lady Knox Geysir erupts every morning. So a group of dedicated Middle Earth fans, plus Anders, gathered in the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland for the spectacle.

Anders’ presence was not, of course, due to any enthusiasm for nature or Tolkien on his part. Being a god with a vampire boyfriend was fantastic enough for him, thank you. But, JPR had recently gained a contract to promote Middle Earth tours in New Zealand, which became less popular as the films faded from memory. To help him understand the tours better, Anders had received a free tour for two people. Of course it would have made more sense to bring Dawn, but she herself had insisted that he do something nice for his boyfriend. (He had ignored her addendum “for a change”). So, he had brought Mitchell.

Mitchell, it just so happened, was seriously into all things Middle Earth and a hardcore fan of the Hobbit movies. Whose only merit, in Anders’ book, was that they brought money to New Zealand. He had only dared to voice that opinion once. It had led to two days of no sex. No shitty movie was worth two days of no sex.

“Look, it is so white it almost looks like snow!”

Anders turned to his boyfriend, who as usual delighted in pointing out the usual. But he was not addressing Anders. In fact, Mitchell’s back was turned to his boyfriend and he was giggling over the nature spectacle with Iolaus, a young man who was on the tour with his boyfriend Luke. Luke was taking pictures of the Geysir, while Iolaus and Mitchell were acting like little kids. They had met at breakfast the day before, bonding over an in-depth discussion of the weapons of Middle Earth before going on a tour to Hobbiton. They had been inseparable ever since.

Even when the group moved on to cross a wooden walkway overlooking the mud pools, Mitchell stuck to Iolaus. Anders, from behind Luke, could hear their aws and oos over the boiling mud and the popping mud bubbles. They compared it to a place called Mordor. Anders’ had the vague idea that it was an evil land.

Iolaus was having a blast. Lately, he had felt a bit depressed, but not only had his boyfriend organized a trip to New Zealand as a gift for their six year anniversary, he also made a new friend he could be silly with. Much as he adored Luke, he could be a bit on the serious side, not to say boring. Especially when it came to discussion of the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, with Luke, the discussion would soon turn to Tolkien’s experiences in the war.

But with Mitchell he could discuss movie trivia and gush over how much they admired Thorin or argue which Durin was the best. Personally, he liked Kíli - gorgeous and daring. Mitchell agreed that Kíli would be the most fun to hang out with, but that Fíli was way better looking. Iolaus looked back to Luke and made the peace sign when his boyfriend pointed the camera at him.

A little bit later, back at the bus, he ran up to Luke again to look at the pictures and had to giggle again. “At this angle, Mitchell looks a bit like you.”

“Younger and with no white hair,” Luke agreed. 

Iolaus grinned more widely and kissed his boyfriend’s cheek, playing with the white strand. “What you mean is, a less attractive version of you.”

Luke had of course meant the opposite, but he did not complain and took the opportunity to pinch Iolaus’ perfect butt. He glanced over to where Mitchell was ignored by his own boyfriend who was glaring at Iolaus. From this angle, Anders looked like an older and way less attractive version of Iolaus. Though, as the man turned to usher Mitchell onto the bus, Luke had to admit to himself that Anders’ butt was just as good as Iolaus’. Twice the butt to admire during the trip, even if one belonged to an ass, what not a bad thing.

The couples were in adjoining bedrooms in the hotel that night. Luke and Iolaus were alerted to that fact just as they were ready to settle into bed by a very loud moan and Anders practically yelling “Oh yes, Mitch, just like that.”

Iolaus poked Luke who looked up from his book in confusion. “Aren’t you going to do something about that?” Iolaus demanded.

Luke blinked: “You want me to knock at their door and asked them to be more quiet?”

“No!” Iolaus poked harder. “I just meant that I bet you can make me moan harder.”

Tiredness forgotten, Luke rolled on top of Iolaus to prove just that. Mitchell might be younger and more fun, but Luke knew exactly how to push Iolaus’ buttons. Iolaus moaned just in anticipation. It had been too long since Luke had been this passionate.

The next morning both couples sported deep circles under their eyes when they shuffled down to breakfast. Iolaus did not even try to hide his yawn. He mustered a grin though when he he greeted Mitchell, “Had a good night?”

Mitchell winked, “You know we did.”

Of course they sat down together, so Luke and Anders took places on the other side of the table, watching their boyfriends actually coming alive enough to have a discussion about the day’s itinerary.

Anders glared at his black coffee, then at Mitchell who ignored him in favour of young, bubbly Iolaus. At least Mitchell had pretended they had had a good night’s sex. Anders glare moved to the older man besides him. But who would have thought that Luke, who seemed so calm and boring, was apparently quite the sex fiend. The moment Mitchell had realised that their rooms were not exactly soundproof, he had deduced that Anders had been louder than usual on purpose. And that had ruined the mood spectacularly.

Sometimes Anders wondered why he even put up with a boyfriend. He could be out here with Dawn. Eww, no she was more like a sister. But there were so many beautiful young people travelling with friends to explore Middle Earth. So many possibilities if it weren’t for Mitchell. Was there a greater cockblock than a boyfriend?

A tour of Weta Studios was on the plan for the day. Mitchell was genuinely excited to be in the place where the magic happened. Still, that did not mean he had to like that his so called boyfriend was flirting heavily with a lady from their tour group. Of course, Mitchell knew that the woman was from Auckland and happened to own one of the biggest outdoor chains in New Zealand. And who, as Anders knew, was thinking of outsourcing some of their marketing. She was there with her niece from Ireland and seemed to share Anders’ total lack of excitement for all things Middle Earth. And where business opportunities beckoned, Anders responded.

Luke was trailing Iolaus and Mitchell, fighting the impulse to take Iolaus hand to mark his territory. He had promised himself, back when Iolaus had been so traumatized from being transported to another world, not to get too emotionally invested. And when all efforts to return him had proven futile, he had made a promise to himself (and Iolaus) that he would not take advantage of Iolaus’ attachment to the person who had the calmest presence and who spoke Ancient Greek. He had helped Iolaus to cope and to find his place in this strange new world. But that did not mean that Iolaus had to be obliged to spend the rest of his life here with him. Lately, he felt that Iolaus was more distant, and not as responsive to Luke’s affection as he used to be.

This trip to New Zealand, which had cost most of the money he had saved to remodel his bookshop, had been supposed to bring them closer together and to maybe make Luke seem a bit more exciting. Instead, Iolaus had found Mitchell who was more exciting than Luke could ever hope to be. Mitchell might technically be in a relationship, but everyone could see that that relationship was not going to survive much longer.

At that point, Iolaus broke through his thoughts. “Luke! Where’s your camera?”

Iolaus posed in front of one of the Rohan models.

“Let me just take a picture of yourself and Luke!” Mitchell suggested, and looked at the older man, “If you trust me with the camera.”

“Sure.” Luke handed the camera over and stepped next to Iolaus. Iolaus managed a smile at his boyfriend. He felt a bit gloomier already. The reason why he wanted a picture of himself with that model was because the tiny houses reminded him of home. And home was lost to him forever. He barely noticed the arm Luke had put around him as he faked a cheerful smile for the camera.

One day later, the itinerary took them to the “Ravenhill” of The Hobbit. Everyone tumbled out of the bus in the beautiful sunshine, but Luke firmly held on to Iolaus’ hand when everyone trudged up, firmly stated,“No.”

“But?”

“No. You are going to cry over their deaths …”

“They never died. That’s a lie.”

“...and you are going to rant. Just bad memories. Forget the scene exists.”

Mitchell looked back, waiting for his new best friend to catch up and was confused when he saw him leaning against the bus and pouting.

“What’s wrong with Iolaus?” he asked Anders.

His response was a huffed, “Who cares. Let’s go.”

“No.” Mitchell made a shooing motion. “You go on, do your PR thing. I’ll catch up.”

Anders was still doing his best to bragi the outdoor shop owner into a contract so he shrugged. “Okay then. I thought you’d be more excited about this trip.”

Mitchell didn’t make a comment as he walked back down. Lately he found himself less tolerant towards Anders’ abrasiveness. Just once in a while, he’d like to hear a kind word from his boyfriend. And it was not like Ravenhill was his favourite scene. Not that Anders would know.

Meanwhile, Iolaus and Luke had taken their knitting out of their bags. The blond was working on another thong - seeing how Luke loved seeing him in the things. Although they never stayed on for very long.

“Heyyy, what’s that, mate?” He looked up in the smiling face of Mitchell.

“Oh.” Iolaus looked at his needles and smiled. “My knitting.”

“You knit? That’s cool!” Mitchell looked from Iolaus with his knitting, to Luke who was sitting next to Iolaus with his own knitting in his hands. “Are you guys not going up?”

Iolaus grinned and nudged Luke. “Luke is too sentimental.”

Luke looked up from where he was busy calculating decreases for his hat. “I do not want Iolaus to go off on a rant we all know is going to end in tears.”

“Yes, yours!” Iolaus poked his boyfriend with his knitting needles. “You cried more than me in the film.”

“Tears of anger,” Luke clarified. “It was so badly done.”

“Sure.” Iolaus rolled his eyes.

“You were the one who sobbed louder than Tauriel when Kíli died,” Luke retorted.

“I did not! It were your own sobs that you heard!”

Mitchell coughed. “Well, if you want me to make a retreat here …”

“What? No?” Iolaus’ blue eyes shone in confusion. “Why would you …”

“Because we argued in front of him,” Luke helped his boyfriend out. “I’m sorry, Mitchell. You see why we chose to stay behind.”

Mitchell nodded. “Wise choice. Mind if I join you? Anders’ is busy with his business anyway.”

“Sure.” Iolaus moved a bit closer to Luke. 

Anders was in a good mood when he ambled down the hill. He had all but secured the deal. Now his new client was indulging her niece and consoling the girl who was crying over Kíli’s death. Feeling charitable, Anders had decided to go down in search of Mitchell. His overly emotional boyfriend might also be in need of a hug.

Of course, what he found was his boyfriend giggling over knitting, of all stuffy things, with Iolaus. He did not even notice Anders’ approach. And that, Anders decided, was enough. He put up with Mitchell, so Mitchell better appreciate him.

In the evening, they all sat out on the terrace of the hotel. For once, they would have the entire next day to take in the surroundings, a welcome break after a hectic schedule.

Iolaus had produced a third set of knitting needles and was teaching Mitchell how to knit - to disparaging comments from Anders.

When Luke went to the bar to get some drinks, Anders followed.

As they were waiting for the barkeeper, Anders asked: “So how are you enjoying this?”

Luke looked at him in surprise. “I’m having a good time. I was always a big fan of Tolkien, and I was surprised with how much I liked the movies. Or at least the Lord of the Ring ones ….”

Anders mentally switched off. This sounded so much like Mitchell going on and on about the topic.

He was still going through the motions of faking a conversation about The Hobbit when they were on their way back with the drinks.

And that was when Anders pounced. They were in a spot that was far away enough from their group to not be conspicuous, but very visible once Mitchell and Iolaus noticed that their drinks had not arrived. 

Turning on Bragi, he whispered. “You know you do not deserve being treated by your boyfriend like this. He almost only has eyes for Mitchell, doesn’t he? Does he appreciate your efforts ….”

To his surprise, Luke, though dazed, replied. “I want him to have a good time, he does not need to feel like he owes me anything.”

Slightly thrown off by someone resisting his persuasion, Anders pressed on. “But deep down, you want to show him that you are the best boyfriend he could possibly get. And what better way to teach him a lesson than to show him that you are more desirable than he thinks? I know you ogled my bottom … you know you want to get your hands on it ….” he took a small step closer. It helped that Luke was genuinely gorgeous. “And you may …”

Luke blinked, but he slowly brought his hands around and put them firmly on Anders butt. Anders moaned lightly, tilting his face up. “Kiss me big boy ….”

Iolaus looked around. “They’ve been gone a while.”

Mitchell shrugged. “That’s Anders for you. Anyway, about that thong design …” Because Anders’, dick as he may be, had the best butt ever and the idea of a knitted thong sparked all kinds of images in Mitchell’s head.

“But not Luke.” Iolaus put his knitting down. “He might have gotten lost, it’s a big terrace. Let’s go look for them.”

“Oh yeah, that’s what Anders’ appreciates, his boyfriend hunting him down.” Mitchell sighed and put his knitting down. If the tortured bit of yarn could be called knitting. He was several levels away from knitting thongs.

So he followed Iolaus. It did not take them long to find their boyfriends who were locked in a passionate embrace just behind a big potted plant next to the table Iolaus and Mitchell had been knitting on. 

“Luke?” The hurt in Iolaus’ voice cut through the other three men. 

Luke was immediately snapped out of Bragi’s influence and jumped backwards. 

Panting in an effort not to turn into a werewolf in his confusion, he answered “What?” He looked at Anders, the man he had just kissed, and then to the stricken face of his boyfriend. “Iolaus. Babe. I … I have no idea what happened, I swear, I …”

“You …”

Mitchell took that moment to yank Anders arm and drag him away bodily. He knew exactly what happened. And he had enough. “Proud of yourself?” he hissed at his boyfriend when they were out of earshot.

Anders, the bastard, smirked. “You seemed to be enjoying yourself too.”

“You were jealous?”

Anders scoffed. “Please. Of course I was not.”

“You used Bragi to seduce Luke not three metres away from me.”

“Who said I needed to use Bragi?”

“Because Luke adores Iolaus. He is not the kind of arsehole who’d cheat on his boyfriend. You are. How often have you done that with clients lately?”

“What? Never!”

“Don’t play stupid. You think I did not notice that you’ve become fed up with our relationship and with playing domestic? You think I have not heard you mock Ty for believing one person could ever be enough?”

“I …” Anders had really not thought about how to defend himself. All he had wanted to do was hurt Mitchell. Mitchell did not give him any time to come up with a feeble defence but ploughed on:

“And you know what? I'm fed up too. I’ve had it with always taking second place to your work, of never once hearing a kind word from you, of never having a day on which I am not reminded that I’m a boring slob. I’ve had it. I’m going to sleep on the fucking couch in the suite, or in the bed if you manage to land in someone else’s. And back in Auckland, I’ll take my stuff and move in with Mikkel until I’ve found a place on my own. Solves both our problems.”

And with that he turned on his heels, leaving a stunned Anders in his wake.

Meanwhile Luke was hardly daring to breathe as he looked at Iolaus. He had no idea why he had been kissing Anders. He did not even like the man. And he had no desire to kiss anyone but Iolaus.

Iolaus who was also rooted to the spot. 

“Why?” Iolaus asked in a voice that was much too quiet for him.

“I really don’t know what came over me. Please, Iolaus …” Luke dared to come a tiny step closer. “I really don’t. One moment I pretended he listened to me talking about Lord of the Rings, the next we were kissing … I’m so sorry.” He felt tears welling up. “I’m so sorry, please, Iolaus, I know I’ve not been the best boyfriend, but please believe me, I would never cheat on you.”

“You kind of did. Kissing’s kinda cheating.” Iolaus bit his lip and turned around to collect his knitting and Mitchell’s. He had a feeling his friend would not be back to pick up their lesson.

“I know.” Luke looked at Iolaus’ back. “It will never happen again.”

“Okay.” Iolaus rubbed his eyes. He was a man. He would not cry. “Let’s go to bed.”

“Okay.” Luke followed Iolaus very much like a chastened golden retriever


	2. The right thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fill for prompt 8 of the Gathering FiKI SpringFRE: Remorse
> 
> Will Anders swallow his pride to make things right?

It was an uneasy night for all for of them.

As promised, Mitchell slept on the couch. He was too angry to cry or show weakness in front of Anders, to his secret relief. All he wanted to do was curl up and scream into the pillow, but that would wait until he was out of Anders’ smug presence.

Anders meanwhile was still too stunned to sleep. Mitchell had been right, hadn’t he? Anders had become bored with being in a relationship. He missed the thrill of the chase, and he resented Mitchell’s tendency to prefer staying inside rather than getting drunk in a bar until the early hours of the morning. It reminded Mitchell of his times as a vampire on the hunt apparently, which was fair enough.

But if Anders had not wanted the relationship anymore, why was he in the bed next to the couch Mitchell was sleeping on instead of having seduced his way into somebody else’s? And why had he tried to get Mitchell to take the bed? Questions Anders found no answer to during the night.

Luke and Iolaus had slept on opposite sides of the king size bed. Luke had spent most of the night racking his brain to come up with the answer as to why he had kissed Anders. Why had he done that to Iolaus? Anders may be attractive, but he never ever had the desire to kiss anyone other than Iolaus ever since he gotten to know him.

On his side of the bed, Iolaus did his best to suppress his tears, though some sobs escaped. He wanted to be comforted by Luke, because he always wanted Luke to comfort him, but Luke was the one who hurt him this time.

After a very tense breakfast, nobody in the little group of four was in the mood to do much. By mid-morning, Iolaus was sitting under a tree in the garden of the hotel, knitting, with Luke nearby.

Mitchell locked himself away in the bathroom. The sound of the shower and cascade of water hid another kind of waterfall. Anders hovered outside the bathroom. He claimed to be working, but he was really on the phone with Dawn. She was more angry than Mitchell, disappointedly chastising him for screwing up the best thing that ever happened to him.

“You need to stop and ask yourself whether this is a want or need situation,” she said, “Do you need Mitchell in your life more than you want to enjoy the thrill of the chase?”

Anders was silent. The god of poetry was speechless.

“Do you remember what it was like before him? Imagine what your life would be like without him now. Stop and think about that.” And she hung up on him.

Anders leaned against the wall, phone in hand. He did not want to imagine what life without Mitchell was like. 

It seemed like forever until Mitchell emerged from the bathroom, his eyes still red.

“Mitch?”

“Not now,” Mitchell growled, not even looking at Anders. “I’m going to find Iolaus.”

The god of poetry was still speechless when Mitchell barged out of the room.

Iolaus looked up when he heard somebody approaching.

He was not surprised to see Mitchell in front of him, the dark look on his face almost out of place in the beautiful sunlight.

“Want to grab some lunch in town and then go for a walk?” Mitchell suggested.

Iolaus nodded and got up.

Luke did not ask if he could join, he just quietly wished them a good time. Iolaus forced a smile that only made him look more heartbroken.

It almost made Mitchell run back his hotel suite and scream at Anders. It was one thing for Anders to fuck things up in their own relationship. But he had to do his not so humble best to ruin the relationship of Mitchell’s friend out of spite.

And Anders should be the one to try and make it right, not Mitchell. He had no idea how yet, but he would make sure that Luke and Iolaus would be reconciled by the end of the trip. After all, poor Luke had done nothing wrong.

Iolaus and Mitchell ended up getting massive sandwiches and then decided to take a trail that would lead them back to the Ravenhill location. They both decided that they were sad already so they might as well make themselves sadder by actually seeing the place. Plus it was beautiful weather out.

Iolaus talked about everything but what had happened while Mitchell tried to figure out how to bring up that what happened was most definitely 100% Anders’ fault. If he had not been concentrating on that, he might have picked up that sometimes Iolaus talked about monsters and gods that he fought with his friends and some of the mishaps he talked about could easily have been prevented by a simple phone call.

They had lunch in a little copse at the border to the rougher landscape seen in the movie. Beautiful, but steep rocks with narrow trails. 

They were walking up one such steep trail when Mitchell tripped over a rock, hit a bigger rock beside him and moments later they were hit by an avalanche of stones.

Instinctively, Mitchell hurled himself between Iolaus and the stones. Then it was over as suddenly as it started, but they had slid down a steep embankment and bounced. Dazed he stayed down for a moment, before he sat up.

“Mitchell? Are you okay?” 

Mitchell looked over to his friend who was frantically pulling at his leg that appeared stuck between two massive rocks.

“Cracked rib or two,” Mitchell wheezed. He could feel more cracked bones and bruises but he would heal quickly enough. “What about your leg?”

“I was lucky, I don’t think it is hurt. Much.”

“Good.” Mitchell took a deep breath. “What about your mobile phone?”

Iolaus pulled it out. “No reception.”

Mitchell pulled his phone out, but as he had feared, it was shattered. He should never have listened to Anders. Smartphones were so fragile, his old simple mobile would have survived the fall.

“Shit.” Mitchell gritted his teeth. “I don’t think I can get up either.”

If Anders had known the trouble Mitchell he was in, he would have felt guiltier than he did already. He had tried to call Dawn again to tell her to find out where to get the best chocolate and biggest bouquets of flowers in the area and have the delivered to the hotel. But she did not pick up the phone and ignored his messages and emails.

After a lackluster dinner during which Anders and Luke both sat on their own on opposite ends of the dining room, Anders went to the bar again. Everyone there just paled in comparison to Mitchell. He finally made another phone call. Of course Olaf told his favorite grandchild that he will be on his way as soon as the call ended. Free food, booze, and tours! And all he needed to do for that was to reconcile Mitchell and Anders.

Anders went to bed not long after that. The alcohol was stale and everyone in the bar was ugly anyway.

Anders tried to wait up for Mitchell. He did not appear. 

The next morning, he practically walked into Luke at the breakfast buffet. The man turned to him and attempted a glare, but it fell flat. Anders could see dried tracks of tears on Luke’s cheeks, his eyes as red as Anders knew his own were - from sleep deprivation not crying. Anders Johnson did not cry.

Luke looked around.

“Where’s Mitchell?”

“I assumed he was with Iolaus?” Seeing Luke’s stricken face, Anders found himself adding hastily, “To console each other.”

“Iolaus is gone too.”

“Shit.”

They both filled their plates in silence. In unspoken agreement they sat together at a corner table with a good view of the entrance. 

The tour guide came up to Anders and Luke, “We need to get going.”

“Our boyfriends are missing.” Luke rubbed his head.

The tour guide looked lost, “Should we contact the local police?” She looked back to the rest of the group, “I will have to call the agency, they can get someone here for you, but …”

“Yes, yes, go on with the tour,” Anders waved her away, “I’ll rent a car and we’ll catch up once we located them.”

When they tour guide was gone, a hulking bald man entered the restaurant and, ignoring the waiters, barged straight up to the table where his grandson sat, too nonchalant for his liking. “Anders,” he said so loud it carried through the room. “What the fuck did you do to John. He’s the best thing that happened to this fucked up family since Dawn and you fucked it up?”

"These rocks are too heavy!" Iolaus complained, breathing heavily. After a restless and painful sleep, the sun had woken the two men bright and early.

Mitchell sat propped against the far wall of the depression, cradling a broken arm and trying not to ogle Iolaus' butt, "I wish I could help."

"Don't worry. It's not like you're a werewolf or something that heals fast enough to just get up from that kind of fall."

"Umm," Mitchell hesitated, wondering how to tell his young friend, "actually...". Before he could finish, he heard voices on the other side of the rockfall and stopped abruptly.

The rocks really hadn’t been that much of a problem. As they slipped from the top of Ravenhill, however, Mitchell had grabbed Iolaus and used himself to cushion the younger’s landing. Much more than just an arm was broken, but he realized Fili would definitely have survived the fall with his stronger dwarven bones. Unfortunately, when his arm broke, it let go of Iolaus who was now pinned under a couple of large stones that were not crushing him, but kept his leg securely stuck. 

Watching the blond struggle to get loose was like a train wreck. He could not look away. The younger man was angled just enough that he could see his adorable ass bouncing as he struggled. The more Iolaus squirmed, the worse it got. He twisted and wriggled and looked, except for the clothes, like Anders writhing in the throes of passion. If the boy moaned, he was sure he would come in his pants.

Not far from them, Luke, Anders and Olaf had followed the trail of the recent rockslide, fearing the worst. Olaf was telling Anders that if his boyfriend lay crushed under rocks because of his stupidity, the family would never forgive him.

“Be still a moment,” Luke hushed. I thought I heard something.

Anders and Olaf stopped. They hadn’t heard anything.

“Iolaus!” Luke shouted.

“Over here!” The reply was Mitchell’s voice and Anders let out a shaky breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He sprinted toward the sound. Luke passed him in a blur.

“Luke!” Iolaus cried out. Almost instantly, his arms were full of his boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Anders slithered around the pile to get to Mitchell. “John,” he breathed, “please be okay.”

Despite the pain he felt, Mitchell couldn’t help smiling and the sun came out. “You’re a dick, you know that.”

“But I’m your dick.”

There might have been a reconciliatory kiss, but Luke shifted and started tossing rocks to free his mate.

Fueled by adrenaline, pain, and confusion, Mitchell jumped up in full vamp mode and shoved Anders behind him.

Werewolf looked at vampire and they both leapt into protective fighting stances.

“Whoa! Down big boy! I’m okay! Everything’s good. Come back to me.”

“Whoa! Down big boy! I’m okay! Everything’s good. Come back to me.”

Anders and Iolaus blinked at the sound of the same words coming from the other’s mouths. They laughed, realizing they had nothing to be jealous about.

Their boyfriends backed down and looked completely confused.

“Okay,” Anders quipped, “Looks like we have an interesting conversation for dinner.”

Iolaus was not hurt, other than his pride. Luke set about soothing that while Anders dragged his boyfriend around a corner to provide a hurried and modest snack so he could finish healing. Better would come later and they all knew it.

Olaf, meanwhile, was sitting cross legged on the pebbles, leaned against a rock, and smoked a joint. He needed to relax after all that drama.

Behind that rock, Mitchell released Anders’ throat. Breathing heavily, he forced his fangs to retract. Slowly, his vision became normal again.

He was healed. Still, even as he tenderly cleaned the blood with a tissue he said quietly, “I appreciate it, Anders, but that does not mean you’re forgiven, you know.”

Anders rolled his eyes, mainly for show. “So what do you want me to do? Grovel?”

He said it as mockingly as he could, but he hoped Mitchell would get the hint that if that was actually what was needed, Anders would do his best to grovel.

“Tell Luke and Iolaus the truth.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tell them the truth.” Mitchell’s eyes were steely, scarier even than in full vampire mode. “I don’t care as much that you kissed Luke - it was a typical Anders dick move and for you feelings are never involved with sex.”

“Hang on …”

“No. You need to finally get it through your thick skull that Not. Everyone. Is. Like. You. Luke is a sweet and devoted person, from all I could see and from what Iolaus told me. For him to kiss someone else … to Iolaus that has shattered his world.”

“I can’t tell people I’m a god! You know that! My family will kill me!”

“No they won’t.” Olaf’s lazy voice startled them both.

“Granddad? Were you eavesdropping?”

“Yes.” There wasn’t the tiniest little shrapnel of remorse in Olaf’s voice or face as he ambled around the rock. “And Luke is a werewolf. Clearly we don’t need to treat them as ordinary mortals.”

“Fine.” 

Anders would have much preferred grovelling and begging Mitchell to take him back.

Luke eyed Mitchell very carefully as they came back, his body half hiding Iolaus. Apparently satisfied by what he saw, he relaxed a little.

“We need to get back to the hotel, Iolaus needs to rest a bit after this.”

“Nonsense. I’ve slept rougher than this.” Iolaus had found his smile again and he directed it at Mitchell now. “I’m glad you’re better.”

Mitchell didn’t return it. “Anders has something to confess to the two of you.”

“While we’re walking back to the car,” Olaf said lazily. “I drove nearly all night, and then had to drive here to find you two adventurers. Oh and by the way,” he smiled at Luke. “Please don’t attempt to kill my grandson.”

“Grandson?” Iolaus looked at Olaf and then around them. “Why would Luke kill a kid?”

“I’m his grandson.” Anders ushered his grandfather onto the trail and started to walk away. 

They had already reached Olaf’s car when Anders finished his story.

“So …” Luke helped Iolaus into the car but did not take his eyes of Anders. “You say you’re a god? And you forced me to kiss you?”

Anders winced. “Forced is a big word. I can … nudge people a little. I can’t make them do things they are absolutely opposed to.”

“I tell you I am opposed to kissing you.”

Anders rolled his eyes. “You may not like me, but you do find me attractive.”

Luke could not deny it. “Still. You forced me to kiss you.”

“And I’m sorry?” Apologies would never be Anders’ forte. “I meant to make Mitchell angry, I did not consider you.”

Anders nonchalantly got into the front seat, as if nobody knew he tried to be as far out of physical harm’s reach as he could be.

Mitchell told Luke to get into the car as well, they needed to get to the hotel to feed Iolaus. 

Once they were driving, and Luke was still trying to express his anger and disbelief, Iolaus piped in, “For a god, Anders is not much of a dick, actually.”

“How do you have experience with gods?” Anders sneered and then yelped as Mitchell, who was sitting behind him, pinched him. 

“Greek gods. You see, I’m not quite from your dimension.” Iolaus smiled angelically. “Ares tried to kill me several times.”

“Fuck me,” Olaf muttered, “real full powered gods, not just vessels!” He turned to Anders, “Grandson, you have to do better to make up to this young man… for our family honor!”

“You could do some free PR for Luke’s bookstore!” Iolaus suggested, “He’s a romantic idiot and spent the remodel money on this trip.”

Luke looked stricken, as if Iolaus had just announced their most private sexual secrets to the outside world. From the look on his face, Olaf could just picture him clutching his pearls in horror.

Mitchell glared at Anders.

“Fine.” Anders huffed, “Welcome to the J:pr family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're having a lot of fun mixing four worlds here! I hope you enjoyed it too :)


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